Journey In Time (CD/DVD)

"SULA BASSANA is on the way again in 2009 - this time with a vintage space rock styled album. Multi-instrumentalist Sula is a music aficionado as no other when simultanously collaborating with several bands/projects, organizing festivals in Austria as well as his own SULATRON record label and mail-order business. In spite of that he's even able to spare time enough to record complete albums on his own. This means 'The Night' was produced at his homestudio where he manages all the instruments by himself. Cover art (painting by Frank Leweke) and track titles are obviously referring to cosmic themes.Here we have five playful songs mastered by Eroc (ex-Grobschnitt) - sounding relaxed and busy at once. This is trippy basically, except some rare heavy rocking elements. Probably this album is concipated as a time travel (didn't ask for clarification though) ... anyhow, the opener In Space appears in really retro clothes - mysterious - maybe even a little bit nightmarish. This is immediately reminding me of a sound track seemingly composed for a sci-fi series like the German 'Raumpatrouille Orion' for example which started in 1966. As for that the song even reflects a pop appeal in my humble opinion especially caused by this special beat and the synthesizer contributions.Later then we are Lost In Space - this song might refer to the early 70s - krautrock tinged with hypnotic rhythm elements where Sula's keyboard work is very very attractive. With the epic title song the album gets going at the latest. Divided in four parts it undoubtely makes out a highlight of the production. Partially grooving but also trippy floating this song is ultimately dedicated to the psychedelic guitar! A wonderful melodic piece of work where you will detect the sole external contribution by Stefan Koglek from the band COLOURHAZE. He provides lyrics and vocals for the second part and this fits closely to the mellow mood.Now hereafter we are up to enjoy contemporary space rock at its best I would say. Meteorritt - the song title shows a nice pun at first colloquially meaning 'ride on a meteorite'. A fine straightforward grooving ride indeed with many repetitve elements plus echoing and swirling guitars all over. Stylistically on nearly the same line Kosmokrator as the last (and longest) tune follows - much more diversified though containing also culminating heavy rocking impressions, some typical vocals - rather more sprechgesang and ambient gliding parts.'The Night' is offered with a charming appeal but guarantees tension too - you can smell Sula's longtime experiences composing music. An excellent cosmic journey which will please krautrock as well as psych/space fans." - ProgArchives

Christian Vander has been opening up the tape vaults releasing some prime (and some not so prime) Magma material. Mekanik Kommandoh is the previously unreleased original version of Mekanik Destruktiw Kommandoh which was rejected by their record label.

"Sometimes, a band faces some adversities that delay the chance to release its hard work to the public. Not many, anyway, can "boast" what progressive rock dinosaurs Spettri have experienced. Founded in the Florence of 1964, the band's self titled and concept debut album was recorded in a single take, in 1972. Sadly, the album was frozen due to the decaying of the desire for this kind of music. That was, until 2011. 40 years later, Black Widow Records gave new life to Spettri, and the band began touring to support the album.What came from it, was the desire to make new music. Flash forward to 2015, 2973 La Nemica dei Ricordi picks up right where Spettri ended. The debut told the story of a protagonist struggling to find an answer to wars and hatred by connecting to the afterlife... only to give in to madness due to the enigmatic replies of the dead. Now, 1001 years later, that same person is still wandering. His new journey, beautifully depicted on the cover artwork, begins with the encounter of a giant ghost ship. Sailing on, the protagonist's destination is nothing but his inner self.Such an outlandish story is accompanied by equally crazy sounding compositions. Heavy Black Sabbath-like riff driven guitar work, haunting Hammond organ lines and piano sections, triumphant saxophone incursions, choirs and fittingly rough vocals make the perfect complement to the band's horror-esque image. Lending a hand are also two special guests. Elisa Montaldo (Il Tempio delle Clessidre), often requested as a keyboardist, is presented here as the lead vocalist for the ballad "Il Delfino Bianco", while Stefano Corsi plays some Celtic harp and harmonica in "L'Approdo". In addition, the album flows excellently in its theatrical nature. Everything leads to 2973 feeling way shorter than its actual length of almost 50 minutes, gaining in replayability.It has to be noted that 2973 does not seem to be made with the objective of being as accessible as possible. The song structures are far from predictable, and the guitar work is far from flashy. Instead, the electric guitar, while not discarding emotional solos, is used mainly to create an atmospheric road of tight riffing, while sax -for which the band has a stand-alone member- and keys often function as the main attraction. Besides, while fitting, the main (really) rough vocals and accent may not appeal to everyone and it is easy to see how the understanding of the language is likely to be a key factor for their appreciation. What also hinders the album a bit is a sense of repetition in the middle, where the title track can sound a little too similar to the latter part of the previous "Onda Di Fuoco". Still, 2973 proves to be a solid and coherent listen from beginning to end, with the gentle sound of the waves opening and closing the journey.Physically speaking, save for the shift to a more progressive songwriting leaving the psychedelic influence (and more prominent guitar playing) behind, nothing has changed since the debut album. Literally, the band decided to use the same instruments used for Spettri when recording 2973, de facto making it sound like the direct continuation of the former. The main difference is the production, this time not as raw and definitely more polished. Everything has been made to sound like it comes from the first half of the 70s, using analogue technologies and so releasing a real AAA LP.Unluckily, the moment of glory for Spettri arrived late. Still, the band does not seem to be worried. As stated in an interview, they want to recover the time they lost and are already setting the foundations for 'Spettri 3', while touring to support 2973. All in all, this album is not 'only' another promising gem for Italian progressive rock in 2015, it is also a testament of how time cannot stop the passion for writing and playing your music, without jumping on trends." - Sputnikmusic.com

Latest from this Italian band create an intelligent mix of folk and power metal.  Love that violin!  Era is spiced up with some special guests: Jon Oliva, Teemu Matysaari (Wintersun), and Maurizio Cardullo (Folkstone).

2LP vinyl edition featuring the remixed and remastered version of the unexpurgated Voyage 34. Originally released as a now OOP single in '92, Voyage 34 is the ultimate psychedelic space rock head trip.

Recorded on the 1977 tour. Material is drawn from Blow By Blow, Wired and Jan Hammer's The First Seven Days. Talk about pyrotechnics - this one is ridiculous.